Even poker players take a few days off from the felt at Yuletide, so what better time to get the tight-aggressive one in your life something that money can’t usually buy? There’s nothing passive about this set of stocking fillers, with something for table captains to tournament crushers! Let’s book a win and spend it like Beckham…
1. Virtual Reality Headset
(£19.99, www.iwantoneofthose.com)
OK, so you might spend half of your time at the virtual felt, but escapism is still something poker players both crave and need. Strap on this Virtual Reality Headset and you’ll be in another world before you can say ‘One time’. A fully immersive experience, you can ride rollercoasters, flee from dinosaurs and watch 3D movies while feeling like the star of the show.
Virtual simulations tally up with apps downloaded via your smartphone, so it’s worth making sure that you have plenty of free GB in your storage, but once you do, you’re primed to enjoy the all-round action without leaving your living room. With complete 360-degree content, the view-screen adapts to your head movements while the headset is securely strapped to your cranium at all times.
Downloadable content is reasonably-priced, and you can see how much fun it is right here.
2. The Great Horror Campout
($109 per person, www.greathorrorcampout.com)
For our Canadian players, here’s an idea to shake you out of whatever funk you might be in – an incredible camping experience like no other. The Great Horror Campout is an all-night camping ordeal that throws you into a live-action horror movie simulation like no other.
The $109 per person entry may seem a little scary itself, but it gets you a 12-hour experience (8pm-8am), a tent for the night and quite possibly the most-terrifying night of your life! ‘Happy’ Campers can choose from a colour-coded scale of petrification, with everything from a mild horror with only partial nudity (OK, that’s for you to provide!) right up to scream-your-lungs-out terror to the max. Horror movies, sing-a-longs, ghost stories, and arts and crafts make up a truly ‘haunting’ experience, but for the hardy of stomach, the Hell Hunt sees participants compete for the title of ‘Hellmaster’. Just like poker, strategy, smarts and guts are all required…even if you don’t leave with all three by morning!
Upon entry (no-one is allowed into the game after 9pm, even the undead) you’ll receive a dossier containing a map of all the creature zones, the species of critters that reside in the grounds, and a list of the items for which campers need to search. Activities include:
Activities include: Hell Hunt, Speed Bumps, Crowd Surge, Horror Movies and Arts & Crafts. Any surviving members of your party will be awarded at the Hellmaster Crowning Ceremony, which takes place at 7am. A few sore heads are practically guaranteed!
3. Rocket Skates
(£999, www.firebox.com)
Segways are so 2015. If you want the next age of futuristic footwear, then you’re looking at them! Rocket Skates are just as easy to control as a real pair of roller skates – you simply lean forward onto your toes to go forward and brake by clicking your heels together like Dorothy wishing to return to Kansas. With two brushless DC motors attached to these space-age feet-flyers, you can hit up to 12 mph as you hurtle along the streets to admiring glances from pedestrians stuck in the Stone Age of actually putting one foot in front of the other.
You can track your progress via the usual smartphone apps (both iOS & Android) and review how far your travelled. With just a 90-minute charge time, they won’t send your electricity bill rocketing either, with a range of ten miles not outside the realms of possibility. The skates even light up when you’re using them to forewarn any dallying strollers come evening time. The best thing is their adaptability, as they allow you to wear your normal footwear before slipping into warp-speed at the touch of a few buttons. Reassuringly, they also come with a one-year warranty. Buckle up!
4. BB-8 Spiro
(£129.99, www.iwantoneofthose.com)
Timed to coincide with the exciting release/tired merchandise grab from LucasFilm (delete as appropriate), this miniature robot from a galaxy far, far away is BB-8™, a fully app-enabled Droid™ that offers advanced intelligence, slick movement and interaction unlike anything Jar-Jar Binks ever provided. Yes, hot on the heels (OK, we’re still thinking about the rocket skates, what’s your point?) of the seventh Star Wars™ film The Force Awakens, ‘Sphero’ lets you interact on a holographic basis with your new best friend (and perhaps only one depending on your human friends’ sensitivities).
BB-8 promises to have a ‘mind of its own’, and will happily function autonomously while you set up your Sunday grind. With a personality, complete loyalty and plenty of battery life, who better could there be to tell your bad beat final table story to at 3am?
5. The Hot Tug
(£30,000, www.firebox.com)
Steady your waters by embarking on the perfect trip with friends thanks to this woodfired (Yes, really!) hot tub of the high seas. With enough room for 6-8 friends – depending on waistline – this frankly ludicrous purchase is sure to separate you sad-acts who spend a portion of their latest ‘bink’ on a smart car. Imagine the look on their face as you cruise past them/over them/under them down the canals of Europe in style.
If you really want to ‘push the boat out’ this Christmas, the Hot Tug is the gift for you, with a genuine wood-burning stove keeping tub-mates toasty-warm. An almost-silent propeller engine effortlessly guides you through any waterway, and with the whole craft aquadynamic thanks to its stainless steel and polyester build, this is one trip you’ll never forget!
6. Hydro Hammock
($260, Kickstarter)
A far more budget purchase for the passionate water-based reveller is the Hydro Hammock. Now, if you’re sat there thinking, ‘Since when did I need a hammock full of water to enjoy myself?’, then you’ve obviously never watched a full episode of Last of the Summer Wine, nor have you taken a dip in this fantastic floating water bed!
Having raised over $77,000 on Kickstarter, the project has been green-lit and is currently fulfilling orders from ’14 countries across the world’, so get ready to relax (but don’t fall asleep!) in this combination of first-class luxury and heated personal spa.
Check out the promotional video right here.
7. Self Balancing Unicycle
(£1500, www.firebox.com)
Should your rocket-skates prove too difficult to utilise fully (let’s face it, they may take some getting used to!) then this handy piece of kit will have you caroming around the highways and byways before you can say ‘Sign me up, Billy Smart!’.
A self-balancing unicycle may sound like the kind of invention that was abandoned by Necessity, their mother, but fear not. They said that about the automobile, the train, the plane and maybe even that bike that you’ve left in the shed since March. This electric unicycle of comfort is the smart traveller’s future, and requires no physical effort whatsoever. Cruising around a corner while playing partypoker tournaments on your mobile might be the coolest thing ever.
With a fully-integrated balancing system, you’ll always have an idea of where you sit as you lean the SBU V3 from pillar to post – hopefully not literally! It boasts a ‘gel-padded’ saddle and is extremely lightweight, so the inventors really have thought if it all. Featuring Turn Assist™, Push Back™ and Smart Sense™, the battery-powered machine is controlled by your posterior as you lean forward to go faster and lean back to stop, much like riding a horse but without all the hair, reigns or animal to get in the way.
Going from 0 to 10mph in just three seconds (don’t lean too hard!), this incredible contraption can hit top speeds of 15mph and comes in three pieces, the main body and two feet. Hopefully, by the end of your journey, you won’t do the same. Note – the Self Balancing Unicycle has a strict weight limit of 135 kg, so make sure you’re keeping up an exercise regime too!
Have a great Christmas and however you spend your winnings, make sure every day you spend with loved ones is a real party atmosphere!
Check Out Our Christmas Promotions
Be sure to check out the ongoing promotions at partypoker throughout the Christmas period, including the Gladiator and the Winter Winners. The latter ends on Christmas Day (December 25), but there’s another value-packed series of offers coming to you from Boxing Day until the New Year, so stay tuned to the partypoker blog and the promotions section of the main partypoker website.
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